Shilpa Jhobalia, a parent in the Marquette Area Public Schools district, speaks to the MAPS Board of Education on Monday regarding training and pay for paraprofessionals in the district. Jhobalia said she and others are working on a plan to retain and recruit paraprofessionals. (Journal photo by Christie Mastric)

MARQUETTE — The issue of paraprofessional training and pay was addressed at the Monday meeting of the Marquette Area Public Schools Board of Education.

The issue already was brought before the board on March 20.

MAPS parent Shilpa Jhobalia, who spoke at that meeting, said she and other parents and community residents are putting together a retention and recruitment strategy for paraprofessionals that the MAPS administration can review.

Gwinn Area Community Schools, she said on Monday, pays its paraprofessionals a beginning wage of $13.33, while the MAPS starting wage is $11.50.

“In addition to our proposal, myself and others are willing to help MAPS with grant writing and advocacy to find a creative solution to this problem,” Jhobalia said.

Jennifer Bleckiner, who until recently was a speech-language pathologist at MAPS, said that when she worked with paraprofessionals in a variety of settings at MAPS, she always valued them and their input as equal staff.

“In my opinion, this is vital for the retention of our paraprofessional staff,” she said.

She pointed out that paraprofessionals can undergo online Handle With Care training through the Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Service Agency in conjunction with MAPS. Having this training available many times throughout the school year might be beneficial, she said.

“Our students deserve staff who are trained to work with the children with higher needs,” Bleckiner said.

She too mentioned pay.

“Although an increase in wages falls into negotiations between the district board and union, I do want to make a note that this needs to be addressed,” Bleckiner said. “Paraprofessionals and other educational staff work with children because they care about children, not because they want to get rich. However, they deserve a livable wage and continued support.”

Bleckiner has started a business, Find Your Voice LLC, which provides resources and community training for disability awareness.

“I’ve seen how the lack of training and support has really not let us retain,” she said.

MAPS Superintendent Zack Sedgwick provided The Mining Journal with a response to the concerns, noting that at the March 20 meeting, MAPS administration updated the board of education on a variety of additional measures designed to address the needs of the district’s students with disabilities, including creative student-focused programming, additional staff and curricular resources.

“To educate our roughly 575 special education students, MAPS realizes an annual deficit in special education funding of approximately $2.5 million,” Sedgwick said. “MAPS strives to go above and beyond to provide all students a pathway to success.

“As indicated by our district mission statement, Marquette Area Public Schools strongly believes in maximizing the academic potential of every child and maintains a commitment to provide all students a free and appropriate education.”

MAPS is also committed to adhering to state and federal mandates governing special education services for students with disabilities, he said.

“Unfortunately, the state and federal mandates for special education have been significantly underfunded for many years,” Sedgwick said. “Although progress has been made to address this challenge, years of underfunding have created a significant budget shortfall for school districts. Ultimately, this reduces the resources available for programs and services for all students.”

Across the 12 public school districts and North Star Montessori Academy in the region, the annual special education budget shortfall is almost $5 million, said Sedgwick, who pointed out that on May 2, there will be a ballot question that asks the voters to approve a 1.5-mill tax increase to address this deficit.

“Our community’s approval of the millage would result in 20 years of more appropriate funding of special education in our area,” Sedgwick said. “Marquette Area Public Schools is committed to employing the highest-quality professionals and appreciates the hard work and dedication of those choosing this noble profession.”

Sedgwick noted that at the March 20 meeting, the MAPS board approved a variety of measures to retain and recruit staff. These measures included a signing/retention bonus, absorbing costs for on-boarding new staff, paid professional development, additional sick leave and free meals for school personnel.

“These incentives are designed to show our appreciation without infringing on a three-year collective bargaining agreement, which does not expire until the end of the 2023-24 school year,” he said.

George Pond, a paraprofessional at Bothwell Middle School, attended Monday’s meeting. He said he follows two students to all their classes to assist them.

“It has its challenges but lots of rewards also,” Pond said. “I think the biggest issue would be just creating more consistency across the board just so the kids can be the best version of themselves. The pay will come, I think, with just more awareness of what kids need.”

Bid accepted

The board on Monday approved a bid from Prime Specialty Contracting, based in Marquette, for $597,869 for the replacement of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at Bothwell Middle School.

Sedgwick said the project will require a lot of technical work to remove the old units from the roof and install the new units. He also noted that the school district received only one bid in two bidding cycles.

Isaac Roberts, an engineer with GEI Consultants, told the board that MAPS received only one bid because other contractors did not have the staffing capabilities to handle the project.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.